"A business dinner then?" Bob asked.
"More than likely," Terry replied just as the phone in front of him rang suddenly
His testicles started to hurt immediately; any call routed to his station in the Situation room was undoubtedly bad news. His arm shot out to answer it and he listened to the urgent voice on the other end attentively.
"WHAT?!" he screamed bolting from his chair, causing everyone at the table to cringe at the sound of his voice.
"GET THEM BACK, GODDAMN IT!" he screamed into the phone. "WHAT?!"
With a crimson face he listened intently to the voice on the other end of the phone, slowly sinking back down in his chair.
"Did you see the man in charge?" he asked quietly.
"I see, it doesn't make a difference anyways, you're all done there. Pack it up and report to Mr. Robards in Atlanta, Georgia." he said, defeated.
He stared at the phone for a few seconds before he yanked it from the table and threw it as hard as he could at a nearby glass partition. The phone ricocheted violently from the bulletproof glass and crashed loudly to the floor. Having received very little satisfaction, he sat down hard in his chair and quietly fumed, red-faced for several minutes.
Bob opened his mouth to speak but closed it as Terry raised a hand and turned in his seat to present everyone with the back of his chair. Rapid-fire glances were exchanged around the table in confusion and everyone looked at Bob silently for some sort of explanation. Noticing all the expectant glances, he could only shrug to show everyone he was as ignorant of the situation as they were. They sat in a growing uncomfortable environment for close to half an hour before Terry finally spoke.
"Cameron evidently has some allies, gentlemen," he started quietly not bothering to turn in his chair.
"What's the story, Terry?" Bob finally braved.
"The story is, Bob." Terry turned his chair around to face the table. "Cameron just regained possession of her family and they are now out of our hands."
"How did she manage that?" Keith asked.
"No idea, but a heavily manned and fully armed security detail just drove away with her family."
"Where were they located, Terry?" Bob asked.
"England."
"British Intelligence?" Keith asked
"I would assume so, yes," Terry answered.
"The British should be the last people she would turn to for help," Bob said.
"She apparently has friends among them," Keith said. "In fact, she's worked all over the world for years, she probably has contacts everywhere."
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," Terry said and stood from his chair. "I believe I'm going to get some sleep on this turn of events," he said tiredly as he made his way from the room without any further comment.
Piper burst through the front door juggling her purse and two bags of groceries.
"Nanny!" she called as she kicked off her shoes and headed for the kitchen.
She sat the bags on the counter and hurriedly began unpacking the contents. She foraged through the cabinets, producing a large metal pot that she filled with water and placed on the stove.
"Nanny!" she yelled again as she put a pinch of salt in the water and turned on the burner.
"What?" Nanny said annoyed as she emerged from the hall.
"Help me cook dinner, I'm running late," she said.
"Late? I didn't know there was a set time for dinner around here," she said amused.
"Bailey's coming for dinner at 7:30. Help me, please?" She turned a pleading look on her friend.
"Oh, man," she said dejectedly.
"Oh, man what?" Piper asked.
"How much do you really know about her, Pippy?" Nancy asked cautiously.
Piper looked at her carefully and debated with herself on how to answer the question. "I know that I care for her very much and that I asked her to dinner here tonight. Why?"
"How much, Pippy? You've only known her for a few days."
"A lot, what's your problem? She said last night that she didn't think you liked her. Did you say something to her?" Piper asked becoming agitated.
"I didn't say anything to her and it's not that I don't like her, it's more like I'm afraid of her," Nancy admitted.
"What?"
"She's scary, Pippy."
"That's fucking ridiculous. I'll admit that she can be rather intense, but you get to know her a little and she's really very sweet."
"How well do you know her, Pippy?
"I'm hoping to get know her very well," Piper said with narrowed eyes.
"I don't know if you should," Nancy said seriously.
"That's not for you to decide, but I would appreciate it if you could at least be courteous to her when she comes over tonight."
"Look I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Nancy said sincerely.
"I'm sorry too, but I'll say this, she's been on her own a very long time. She's also completely inexperienced, but she's really smart and she picks things up very quickly, so don't make her any more uncomfortable than she already is," Piper said seriously.
"I won't, Pippy. I'm just a little concerned is all."
"Concerned enough to spy on us last night from the spare bedroom?"
"How did…" she broke off suddenly embarrassed.
"I didn't, she knew you were there."
"Alright, I was spying. I really don't know why," she admitted honestly.
Piper glared at her until she thought her friend was properly chastened. "Give her a chance, Nanny. Please? I don't think she's had very many. And I think she's really special," she said truthfully.
"I will," she said contritely with downcast eyes. "What have you decided I'm going to cook for your date?" she asked hoping to breeze past the situation.
"Spaghetti and meatballs," Piper said with a reprieving smile as Nancy came around the counter and into the kitchen.
"My favorite," Nancy said sarcastically. "Am I banished to my bedroom for the night?"
"Of course, but I'll let you eat before your confinement," Piper said cheerily.
"Thank you, Warden," Nancy said defeated.
"Po-lease," Piper said rolling her eyes. "I spent almost an entire month in my room when you dated that ugly guy, what was his name, Spunker?"
"It was Spencer. And he wasn't that ugly," Nancy said indignantly.
"Spare me, the guy had enough hair on his back to make a cat," Piper said teasingly.
"He did not!" Nancy said huffily.
"God, and his face. You never told me what happened to him," Piper said mischievously.
"There wasn't anything wrong with his face."
"He looked like he fell from the ugly tree face first into a waffle iron."
"Are you finished?" Nancy asked with narrowed eyes.
"Wait, I think I have one more," Piper said pretending to think.
"Keep it to yourself or I'll tell the Princess of Darkness that I cooked her dinner," she threatened.
"That's not completely true, I already set the water out to boil," Piper said in her defense.
"Go get ready or she'll be afraid to eat anything you offer her after tonight."
"Thanks, Nanny," she said, beaming a smile at her friend as she flounced out of the kitchen to vanish down the hall.
--------
"It doesn't look that bad."
"Gee, thanks," Zack said sarcastically.
"You can take the hat off, it's getting dark."
"Please shut the fuck up," Zack said politely as he took off his baseball cap to reveal an incredibly short and lopsided crew cut. The inch of pale white skin above both ears contrasting sharply with the much darker skin tone of his face.
He let out a long sigh and sank a little in his seat, flipping down the visor in front of him and wincing as he studied his new haircut in the little mirror. He slapped the visor back up with irritation and glanced sideways at his asshole partner. It had been a long day and as predicted their boss had not been pleased to find him with dried gum all over on
e side of his hair. Mike had looked at both of them knowingly and after several choice comments eluding to their incompetence and all around stupidity, he had refused to relieve them and had placed them on night surveillance for the next week. They were only allowed an hour to dump their shit in the hotel room and clean themselves up so he had been forced to use a beard trimmer to cut his hair. With less than satisfactory results, he had emerged from the bathroom to have Russell thoughtfully provide him with a baseball cap that proclaimed him to be a ‘Sex Machine'. He would have cheerfully shoved the ridiculous cap up his ass but Russell had shrewdly given it to him in Mike's presence, so he had been forced to place it on his head and had walked back to the car with all the dignity he could muster. The thing that really chapped his ass was that he swore he saw Mike crack a fucking grin as he walked away.
"There's our hotrod, call it in," Russell said starting the car.
Zack looked through the binoculars at the Barracuda that had just emerged from the parking garage. He wished that the windows of the car weren't tinted so he could get a good luck at the woman in person, from the pictures provided he had ascertained that she was indeed quite the looker. Not that he had any hope of attracting anyone with his current and incredibly fucking asinine hairstyle. With a frown, he grabbed the cell phone to report her movement.
They followed for about ten minutes until she pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store and went inside.
"Ya know for somebody who knows she's a target, she carries on like it's the least of her fucking concerns," Russell stated.
"No kidding," Zack agreed.
"I don't know why we have to follow her around if they ain't gonna try and take her down. I mean it wouldn't be hard to bag her from here with a rifle round," Russell said.
"You heard the lecture today. She knows we're here and for no reason whatsoever are we to engage her."
"Yeah, I heard. But it would be so easy."
"Russell, just between you and me, I think that chick would be all over us if she even suspected she was in danger."
"What? She acts like she doesn't have a care in the world."
"She knows exactly what she's doing or they wouldn't be so worked up about her. Besides, I got to thinking about some of the shit I've heard about The Wraith over the years."
"And?"
"And watching that chick wander around openly like she is, makes me think that the maybe some of the stories I've heard aren't all that farfetched."
"So what do you think the hold up is?"
"On what?"
"Why haven't we moved on her yet?"
"I dunno, but Mike said that we'll be moving into an office building next week so I bet we'll be here for awhile."
"I hope not, it's embarrassing driving around with you and that retarded haircut," Russell said with a huge grin. "I feel like I'm chaperoning an envoy of the Special Olympics or something," he finished with a chuckle.
"Do yourself a favor, Russell. And don't piss me off anymore than you already have," Zack said sinisterly.
Russell's grin faded swiftly and he wisely refrained from commenting. He studied the scenery with a keen interest to avoid the glare being aimed at him until they were following the Barracuda again.
"This is the same way we went last night," Zack said after a few moments.
"She's probably going to see the redhead again," Russell said hopefully. "Did you get the night scope out of the trunk?"
"Way ahead of you. It's in the back seat."
"Cool. You think she's a dyke?"
"Let's hope so," Zack said and they both laughed.
"Yep, she's going to the redhead's house, this is the same neighborhood. Should we call it in?"
"Let's wait and see if they go out again first."
They watched the Barracuda pull up into the driveway and Russell pulled over to the side and parked.
"Are those flowers?"
"Yep, roses," Russell confirmed through his binoculars. "A hot date, perhaps?"
"Perhaps," Zack agreed as he watched her disappear into the house.
"I got first dibs on the night scope."
"Fuck you, we settle it in the usual manner."
III
And I want to be with you, Be with you night and day.
- Hewson, Evans, Clayton, Mullen
"Do I look okay?" Piper asked Nancy as soon as the doorbell rang.
"You look great, although you forgot to stencil ‘Easy' on your forehead," Nancy said chuckling at her own joke.
"I'll let that one slide only because it was kinda funny," Piper said amused as she turned and walked to the door. She stopped at the mirror in the entry to give herself the once over before she opened the door to discover Bailey bearing gifts.
"Are those for me?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes," Bailey said shyly and presented her with the flowers, smiling when Piper did a little hop and took the roses from her hand. The smile got larger when Piper leaned in close and kissed her.
"They're beautiful, thank you." She smiled. "Come on in."
Bailey crossed the threshold and Piper closed the door behind her. With a smile, Piper took her hand and led her to the kitchen where Nancy was seated upon a barstool.
"Let me put these in water," she said, letting go of Bailey's hand.
"Hi, Bailey," Nancy said.
"Hello," Bailey said politely.
"I made spaghetti and meatballs, I hope that's alright," Piper said with a sly grin at Nancy as she ran water into a vase. "Nanny helped a little, but I'm afraid that she's only capable of the basics, like boiling water," she added amused with herself.
"Yes, I'd probably starve without Pippy around," Nancy said sarcastically with an annoyed glance at Piper.
Bailey listened to the interplay between the two with slight confusion, but shrugged it off as she watched Piper fuss with her flowers. She turned a casual look upon Nancy, who was a pretty girl, almost as petite as Piper but with light brown hair and eyes.
"What do you do for a living, Nancy?" she asked curiously.
"I'm a flight attendant with TWA," she said with a look at Bailey, instantly wondering if the woman was aware of just how penetrating her eyes were.
"Piper said you two have known each other since you were kids?"
"Oh yeah," Nancy started with a smile and Piper who was observing both of them carefully stiffened slightly. "I could tell you all kinds of things about her if you like."
"Nanny," Piper said warningly and was dismayed when Bailey put the bottle of wine on the counter and took a seat on the barstool next to Nancy's.
"Okay," Bailey said far too enthusiastically for Piper's taste.
"Nanny, isn't it time for your medication?" Piper intruded.
"No, I took it an hour ago, why don't you put the wine Bailey brought in the fridge before it gets warm," Nancy said with an infuriating smile before returning her attention back to Bailey.
"What do you want to know? I have many, many gems of information to share," she said and almost giggled when she heard Piper mumble under her breath as she put the wine in the refrigerator.
"Was she always pretty?" Bailey asked curiously.
Piper, who was hurriedly sorting through escape plans, caught her breath at the question. It wasn't a question asked out of a playful teasing but one asked from an innocent curiosity. She realized that Bailey wasn't aware of the slightly mean-spirited game Nancy had instigated and had just asked because she truly wanted to know. It was deeply touching and, looking at her innocently awaiting Nancy's answer, she began to suspect that hard was not a strong enough word to describe how badly she had fallen.
"Uhm… yes," Nancy said a little startled as well. "Yes, she was always pretty." .
As soon as Nancy responded, Piper came around the counter and gently placed a hand on Bailey's back. She felt the muscles under her hand move slightly with the contact but she rubbed a soft circle on her back with her palm and was pleased when she felt Bailey lean into her hand.
&nb
sp; "You're very sweet," she said to Bailey and kissed her quickly on the cheek before turning narrowed eyes upon Nancy. "And you are out past your curfew, or should I brandish my rapier-like wit and discuss the many gems of information I can happily provide about you."
"Oh, look what time it is. I'm going to miss my shows," Nancy said innocently, hopping up from her stool. "Bailey it was nice to see you again, you kids have fun," she finished hoping for a painless escape as she padded down the hall.
Piper watched her until she disappeared and then turned to Bailey with a smile. "So, how was your day?" she asked brightly.
"It was very good," Bailey said honestly.
"Really?" Piper asked intrigued.
"Yes, how did your day go? Is everything going alright."
"Yes, busy though."
"Have you looked into getting an assistant?"
"I haven't had the time the last couple of days," she admitted.
"I see, I'll look into getting one for you tomorrow and you should move into John's office so you can be closer to your staff."
"Uhm…okay," she said uncertainly.
"What's wrong?"
"It just seems a little quick to be setting up camp in his office," Piper admitted
"I can understand that, but you need to acclimate yourself as soon as possible and you need to be easily accessible to the staff."
"Alright," she said quietly.
"It'll be fine, the word is, you're doing a terrific job but you need to delegate a little more. Let others do the work and step in when asked or needed."
"You've been checking up on me?" Piper asked with a little smile.
"Of course, I want you to do well, for…uhm…a variety of reasons."
"Such as?"
"Well, there's the business aspect, but mainly because I…uhm…want to spend time with you and I don't want you to wear yourself out," Bailey admitted.
"That sounds like a plan then, because I want to spend time with you too," Piper said with a shy smile moving around to stand in front of her. "I thought about you all day, ya know?"
"You did?"
"Yep, and I want a smooch before dinner," Piper said demandingly.
"What's a smooch?" Bailey asked curiously.
Stories by Kiera Dellacroix Page 17
